Chapter 16: The Blacksmith’s Strategic Upgrade

[You have entered Toben’s Blacksmith Shop.] 

Clang! Clang! Clang! 

The moment Kang Ju-ho stepped into the blacksmith shop, he heard the sound of iron being hammered. 

It wasn’t the shop’s owner, Toben, making the noise. 

‘It’s gotten crowded.’ 

The blacksmith shop was no longer empty. 

After observing the other users for a moment, Kang Ju-ho approached Toben. 

“Hello.” 

“Ho ho, hello there.” 

“I’d like to get some repairs done.” 

Kang Ju-ho got straight to the point. 

A repair window appeared. 

The shield wasn’t the only item with reduced durability. 

His weapon, top, gauntlets, and boots also needed repairs, and five items appeared in the window. 

‘Exclude the top.’

Planning to buy a new top, Kang Ju-ho removed it from the repair list, slightly lowering the cost. 

The repair cost was as expected. 

He clicked the repair button. 

[102 gold has been consumed.] 

[Repairs will be canceled if you leave the blacksmith shop.] 

-4:59 

-4:58 

A green timer appeared in the air alongside the message. 

After checking the repair time, Kang Ju-ho moved to the equipment display. 

Checking every item’s options would take too long. 

He decided to skip shields, gauntlets, boots, and notably cheap equipment. 

After all, he was already wearing decent shields, gauntlets, and boots. 

Toben’s shop only sold ‘Common’ grade equipment, so even better shields, gauntlets, or boots wouldn’t make a significant difference. 

They weren’t worth the investment. 

Cheap equipment was low-priced for a reason, so there was no need to waste time on it. 

Kang Ju-ho began browsing the display. 

‘As expected, nothing stands out…’

A hint of disappointment crossed his face. 

Perhaps because they were all Common grade, no item particularly caught his eye. 

Moreover, the shop’s item variety was limited—no cloaks, tattoos, or accessories. 

‘Just four options, huh.’ 

The only worthwhile items were a helmet, top, bottom, and greaves. 

He reviewed their details again. 

<Steel Helmet [Common]> 

Requirements: Level 30, Strength 50 

Durability: 100% 

Physical Defense: 50 

Strength +5 

<Steel Armor Top [Common]> 

Requirements: Level 30, Strength 50 

Durability: 100% 

Physical Defense: 70 

Stamina +5 

<Steel Armor Bottom [Common]> 

Requirements: Level 30, Strength 50 

Durability: 100% 

Physical Defense: 70 

Stamina +5 

<Steel Greaves [Common]> 

Requirements: Level 30, Strength 50 

Durability: 100% 

Physical Defense: 50 

Stamina +5 

‘It’d be nice if there were a set effect.’

Kang Ju-ho was already wearing Steel Gauntlets and Steel Boots. 

All the items he was considering had ‘Steel’ in their names. 

Unfortunately, they weren’t a set, so there was no set effect. 

‘1100 gold left…’

Each of the four items cost 200 gold. 

‘I’ll head to Magic Street too.’ 

He’d planned to spend all 1900 gold on equipment, but with limited options, he decided to visit Magic Street for accessories. 

With 1100 gold, he could buy something decent. 

Kang Ju-ho approached Toben with the selected equipment. 

“That’ll be 800 gold!” 

Toben smiled broadly as he saw the items. 

“Here you go.” 

As Kang Ju-ho handed over the gold, he thought, 

‘No need to learn skills.’

Switching to Blacksmith of the Battlefield would reset his Blacksmith class skills. 

The skills he could learn now were all crafting-related and wouldn’t affect combat. 

There was no point in learning them. 

“Goodbye.” 

After purchasing the equipment, Kang Ju-ho thanked Toben and left the shop. 

The repairs had finished while he was browsing. 

He headed to Magic Street. 

While walking, he equipped the new gear and opened his character window. 

Character Name: Kang Ju-ho 

Nation: Paraville Kingdom 

Class: Blacksmith 

Level: 32 

Experience: 14% 

Health: 6250 

Mana: 200 

Satiety: 42% 

Strength: 80 (+10) 

Agility: 12 

Stamina: 125 (+20) 

Wisdom: 10 

Seeing the boosted stats, a smile spread across his face. 

He closed the character window with satisfaction. 

Just then, a delicious aroma hit his nose. 

He turned toward the source and saw a stall filled with various breads. 

‘Perfect timing.’ 

His food supply for satiety had run out. 

If satiety dropped below 20%, the ‘Hunger’ status would drastically reduce stats, making normal play impossible. 

Food was a must. 

Kang Ju-ho approached the stall. 

‘No need to worry about expiration.’

Food had expiration dates, and past that, effects changed—less satiety, health loss, or poisoning. 

Bread typically lasted 30 days. 

He wasn’t planning a long expedition, so he wouldn’t need that much. 

He checked the bread details. 

<Freshly Baked Bread [Common]> 

Satiety: +20% 

Time Remaining: 7 days 

<Cream Bread [Common]> 

Satiety: +20% 

Time Remaining: 5 days 

‘No stat-boosting ones, huh.’

After checking all the breads, Kang Ju-ho looked slightly disappointed. 

Some foods boosted stats or resistance, but these didn’t. 

‘Guess I’ll get 10 cream breads and some red bean buns for Seok-ju.’ 

He’d hoped for stat-boosting bread, but decided to buy what suited their tastes. 

“Goodbye.” 

After buying the bread, Kang Ju-ho headed back to Magic Street. 

– Kim Seok-ju: Hyung, I’m done. 

– Kim Seok-ju: Heading to the South Gate. 

A whisper came from Kim Seok-ju. 

– Kang Ju-ho: I’m going to Magic Street. 

– Kim Seok-ju: What? There? 

– Kang Ju-ho: Yeah, got some gold left, gonna check out accessories. 

He paused at Kim Seok-ju’s next message. 

– Kim Seok-ju: Don’t bother, hyung. It’s all junk there. 

– Kim Seok-ju: Better to save the gold. 

– Kang Ju-ho: That bad? 

– Kim Seok-ju: Yeah, a ring that boosts stamina by 3 costs 800 gold. 

– Kim Seok-ju: Total rip-off! Save it for the next city’s gear. 

Kang Ju-ho was speechless. 

Kim Seok-ju was right—buying accessories now would be a waste. 

‘Should’ve upgraded my weapon…’ 

The blacksmith had a hammer with better options, but he’d opted for accessories since the difference wasn’t significant. 

Now, accessories seemed even less worthwhile. 

– Kang Ju-ho: Meet you at South Gate. 

He changed direction. 

“Hyung!” 

At the South Gate, he spotted Kim Seok-ju waving. 

“Here, take these. Got some bread.” 

Kang Ju-ho handed over the bread and started toward the Stone Goblin Forest. 

-!@%!@ 

-#$@% 

*** 

Four stone goblins surrounded Kang Ju-ho. 

Thud! Thud! Thud! 

Three of their metal clubs swung at him. 

He didn’t dodge. 

The four new pieces of armor had significantly reduced incoming damage. 

But that wasn’t the only reason he took the hits. 

‘Building physical resistance is tough.’ 

Like stats, resistance could be increased through specific actions. 

For physical resistance, that action was getting hit. 

The odds were low, but it could increase. 

‘Should I take off some armor?’

The number of hits mattered, but so did the damage taken. 

Higher damage increased the chance of gaining resistance. 

Thud!

One goblin fell to Kang Ju-ho’s hammer. 

He silently swung at the next. 

After taking hits and defeating all the goblins, he checked the message window, hoping for a physical resistance increase. 

But it only showed a level-up message and buffs from earlier. 

“Let’s go!” 

After collecting the drops, Kang Ju-ho spoke to Kim Seok-ju and moved on. 

“Have you decided where to go?” 

Kim Seok-ju caught up and asked. 

“Yeah, I thought about it, and Desolate Tomb seems better.” 

The monsters there—zombies and ghouls—were tough due to his low poison resistance and lack of Cure. 

But with their weakness to the ‘Light’ attribute, they could be defeated easily. 

Plus, I need to work on it early.

Physical resistance wasn’t the only kind. 

Poison resistance existed too, and Kang Ju-ho planned to build it by facing the zombies’ and ghouls’ poison in Desolate Tomb. 

“Valor Plains doesn’t offer much for us, and our classes aren’t great for it.” 

Red Orcs had no weapon or attribute weaknesses, making them tough for their duo. 

“Then we’ll need antidote potions.” 

“Yeah, we’ve got plenty of gold. Let’s stock up on potions.” 

With no gear to buy, they had 1100 gold left, and more would come from hunting. 

They could afford plenty of antidote and health potions. 

At that moment: 

“Argh! Heal! Heal me!” 

“It’s on cooldown!” 

“Why’s it so strong?!” 

“Take the aggro for a bit!” 

“I’m out of health!” 

Screams and voices came from nearby. 

Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju exchanged glances and headed toward the commotion. 

“An elite.” 

“Yup, elite.” 

They arrived to see a rampaging elite stone goblin. 

Three users were down, leaving only a presumed healer and an archer. 

The archer fell to a metal club. 

“Argh!” 

The lone healer screamed and fled—straight toward Kang Ju-ho and Kim Seok-ju. 

“It’s coming this way. What do we do?” 

Kim Seok-ju asked. 

Kang Ju-ho grinned. 

“Let’s take it. They’ve probably chipped its health, so thanks for that.”